You can do it. You can decide your path. And it doesn’t have to be self-publishing, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. I think that’s the beauty of it – you can choose your own magic.

Yes, finding an agent might take more time, but if this is what you want: then keep going, keep writing.

Finding an agent doesn’t mean you won’t self-publish or can’t self-publish. Again, here, you can decide.

If you want to be traditionally published: I know it’s hard, I know there are many amazing books out there and only a few find an editor but if that’s your dream, then don’t give up. Keep writing.

No matter what path you choose. Writing will be hard. Writing will be easy. Writing will be like pulling teeth. Writing will be the only thing you want to do. Writing will be all those things and more.

 Join me tomorrow for W…

 I’m running super late with this post. And nope Xander has really nothing to do with self-publishing but more with writing: In Buffy, pretty much all secondary characters are developed, they have a life of their own. A good reminder…:)

Join me tomorrow for Y…

 To be successful at self-publishing (if you define success by selling lots of books and earning a profit), the common advice is that you need to be prolific.

To be prolific, you need to write, find the way that best works for you, find your groove. For me it doesn’t mean writing necessarily get any easier. Sometimes, words flow, sometimes it doesn’t.

I’ve said it before but “Writing keeps me sane while driving me insane.” I don’t feel as balanced if I spend too long without writing but I also can feel more anxious if all I do is write.  Luckily for me, writing is also about connecting to readers, finding new ways to reach out to people and let’s face it, I can also argue that my time on Twitter is for my writing 😛

Join me tomorrow for W…

 How do you know what price to set for your book? How do you know if you’re going too high or too low? The price people are willing to pay might be different than the value the book has to you, but you also don’t want to lower the value of your book by pricing it too low.

Honestly I haven’t figure that one out yet. I think the ebook price of ONE TWO THREE was too high when I first released it…What I’ve noticed in the selfpub world is that authors seem to be pricing their books between 2.99 – 4.99 and then may do a sale when it’s down at 0.99.

KDP shows you what prices you could use and how it could affect your sales and profit. I do think at the beginning it’s important to gain an audience, so the promotions really do help in getting your book in front of people who may not have read it otherwise.

But anyways I’m rambling. Here are some articles that might help more than me 🙂

• The art of pricing your book: strategies for self-published authors
• How to set the right price for your self-published book
• eBook pricing strategies for authors

Join me tomorrow for W…

This is going to be a short post. Undecided.This was me today, trying to decide which idea to work on since I have a few books planned to be published by the end of the year. I will need to write two books at once or to be a very fast drafter. But today, I hesitated. I wasn’t sure. Thanks, Riley for helping me out and for Katy, Jaime and Lola for keeping me accountable this afternoon 🙂

Join me tomorrow for V…

When I first published ONE TWO THREE, many friends and family members in France asked me when it would be available in French. Honestly, I didn’t think of translating it or having it translated. Why? (1) As I mentioned before I didn’t really have a business plan, (2) my French is rusty to say the least…and then my entire family would most probably read it and what if my French really is sucky to the bone.

But then, after a few months and a lot of thinking, I’ve realized that it would be a good idea both on a personal and business level. Personally, I’d love to see my books published in French (and German) at least, and on a business level, it doesn’t require a big investment (except time and help from my family) and I may already have an audience.

Soooo…ONE DREAM ONLY, the prequel novelette to ONE TWO THREE as well as ONE TWO THREE will be available in French in the coming months. Exact dates and covers to be announced very soon.

ONE TWO THREE will be available in German also very soon.

I will be translating in French while a freelance will be translating ONE TWO THREE in German. I found her on elance.com and the agreement we came to was very satisfying to both parties.

Of course, there’s also editing and proofreading but here again I’m lucky enough to have talented people willing to help me. It’s an experiment right now and I can’t wait to see how it all pans out.

I’m excited. I can’t wait to share more info with you all soon.

You might also find those articles interesting:

• Adventures in Self-Publishing Translations by The Creative Penn
• Exploring the Foreign Markets for Self-Publishing 
• Foreign translations: 4 ways to reach a foreign market

Join me tomorrow for U…

Sales. Such a scary word (see what i did here :P). As mentioned before, I have lost money on my first publication, and well…there were two reasons for it: (i) I spent too much money and not as wisely as I could have, (ii) I didn’t sell enough books. Two is more or less related to One.

I have sold 75 paperback copies of ONE TWO THREE. On Amazon, I sold about 120 ebook copies and my book appears a being “read in the Kindle Unlimited program” 40 times. I sold about 35 more ebooks on other channels.

Those numbers are not good, let’s be realistic. But…I now know why. Yes, of course, there is a bit of luck involved but mostly after spending a year getting to know and learning from other authors, I know I’ve done some/lots of things wrong, I didn’t dedicate my time to the business side of writing.

Why do i go on? because I still believe in my writing, in the stories I want to tell. Because the reviews of ONE TWO THREE were good (and from people I never met in my life) and because I have learned. I have a business plan now, I have what it takes and I believe in myself (most of the times, anyways).

And this myself is the truth.

Join me tomorrow for T…Translation